I've used this for years on both Pentax and Canon DSLRs with excellent results. Perfect focal length for cropped-sensor bodies, you don't feel cramped within the frame as a 100-ish lens would provide.

Super sharp and well made.

Jun 8, 2014

spressa777OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Feb 27, 2014Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Feb 27, 2014

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharpest Lens I owe , as sharp as Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art

Cons:

Tube extension, over exposes half stop

I have Sigma 70mm 2.8 Macro and it is as sharp as Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art in the center and sharper on the corners. I have 3 other sharp lenses (Nikon 135mm DC F2, Nikon 85mm 1.8G and Nikon 50mm 1.8G) , but they are nowhere near these 2 Sigmas in sharpness. I compared all lenses at F5.6 in 3 occasions and results are consistent. I tried Nikon 105mm VR Macro, it was unfortunately softer than 85mm 1.8G.

Feb 27, 2014

asamimasaOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jun 28, 2010Location: United StatesPosts: 200

Review Date: Jan 23, 2013

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharpness throughout aperture range (limited by diffraction), focus speed can be good with limiter on, minimal aberrations (distortion, flare, CA)

High resolution, even at f/2.8
Centre resolution and corner resolution are almost equal at all apertures
Very low distortion
Very low vignetting from f/4.0
Low chromatic aberration
Good value for money

Cons:

AF could have been faster and quieter

Tested this lens with the Nikon D800E: the sharpness of the Sigma 70mm macro at f/2.8 is immediately very high, both in the center and in the corners. The amount of vignetting on a full frame camera is low, the distortion is low and the chromatic aberration is kept well within bounds. The design of the autofocus is old and an upgrade towards quieter and faster would be a good idea for Sigma. The finish is of a high level and the asking price for the Sigma 70 mm Macro is relatively low, if you consider it's stellar optical qualities (with a Nikon D800E).

Excellent product for the price. Using it on D300. In low light focus hunts for general shots. The limiter switch is useful.
Overall, a great product from Sigma

Jun 29, 2011

screwdriverOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 29, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 541

Review Date: Dec 4, 2010

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

very sharp

Cons:

none

I have owned a lot of lenses and this is one of the sharpest ones .

Dec 4, 2010

filmazeOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 18, 2010Location: PhilippinesPosts: 0

Review Date: Nov 18, 2010

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharp at all apertures, nice bokeh, use for macro and portraits..

Cons:

slow (I wish it had HSM)....noisy AF

Nov 18, 2010

edcctfOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jul 11, 2010Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Jul 11, 2010

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $499.99
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharp. Very sharp. Excellent quality lens.

Cons:

None.

Had lens about a week. I've been playing with it a bit and even with the high expectations I had due to the great reviews I'm still impressed. The lens hood is a bit odd... as mentioned in other reviews... and the auto focus is a bit loud (not noisy.. just louder than most of my other lenses) but considering the price I'm not at all disappointed because when you put it on and let it go to work it produces.

Jul 11, 2010

MichaDOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 29, 2004Location: GermanyPosts: 409

Review Date: Apr 1, 2010

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharp. Great colors. Excellent bokeh. Price.

Cons:

Corners a tad soft on full frame. Focus ring not damped. No HSM motor.

If you are in for a macro lens in that range this is a no-brainer, get it! Build quality is good for the price but I'd have actually preferred to pay more for better build.

Apr 1, 2010

vignaOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Mar 20, 2005Location: AustraliaPosts: 63

Review Date: Aug 2, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $549.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

This lens is an absolute winner from Sigma. Image quality are truly in line with Canon 135mm. Midday exposure of one floriade show in Canberra, Australia exposed its quality. It was an pleasant experience to see the outcome of the pictures. Love the rich color, sharpeness and depthness of this lens. Used it with indoors portrait high contrast B&W with very good results. Strongly recommend to those who are after portrait and macro lens. Price !!

Cons:

As usual like other Sigma lenses bit noisy with focusing.

Aug 2, 2009

xyzabcOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Feb 1, 2009Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Jul 30, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $399.99
| Rating: 10

Pros:

I write extensively as a professional technical writer. I mostly need extremely close clear shots and this lens coupled with my new Pentax K7 I feel that I have a world-class combination, if not approaching it. And I bought it at Sigma 4 Less for $399 I believe. My latest shots were of a miniature dollhouse fireplace that I added some sophisticated electronics to and both the approximately 1 inch square PCB and the fireplace turned out great. I also use a copy stand with a fine attachment lift of it that allows very precise determining of the distance-to-subject. This camera has auto bracketing and HDR which only enhance and further highlight this fine lens. I would also suggest a white balance filter attachment made by EXPO, this makes it all really come alive along with lights that are the swirled 5,000 Kelvin soft lights. Now that is a combination that does this lens and the aforementioned camera combination true justice. I expanded one shot to 32X and you can see the fine grain in the wood of the fireplace and its grate even shows the bubbles in the lacquer that are not visible with the naked eye but quite visible when magnified to this degree and even under this intense scrutiny they are immensely detailed with no distortion and/or color shifts whatsoever. This lens is a winner.

Cons:

Absolutely none

Jul 30, 2009

Ken MessinaOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 28, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 2

Review Date: Jun 19, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $389.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Really sharp at 2.8 and it just goes up from there. Excellent build quality, good colors and contrast and the manual focusing ring is very smooth.

Cons:

My only gripe is the fact that the supplied 62mm lens cap will not work when the lens hood is on. A 77mm cap has to be used on the front of the lens hood. I was lucky that I had a spare cap.

The lens is mostly used for product shooting in a small studio and manual focus is a must in that environment. The lens is on occasion used outside the studio, so, here is my 2 cents on the Auto Focus. The AF is a little noisier and a little slower compared to my Canon 100 macro. With that being said though, I have no complaints. Oh yeah, the focus accuracy is dead on. All in all, a super lens.

Jun 19, 2009

druglessOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Apr 20, 2009Location: CanadaPosts: 0

Review Date: Apr 20, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $489.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Great construction, great glass, crisp focus, edge to edge sharpness

Cons:

Sometimes a little slow to focus in dim light

This was my first prime lens. I was looking for a good lens, 70 - 85mm, to use in panoramas. I know most people probably wouldn't look at a macro as the ideal lens for this purpose but the sharpness of this lens was outstanding. All in all, this lens spends more time on my camera than off -- it is definitely my favorite lens. In combination with the Nodal Ninja, I have managed to do some serious panoramas with the largest just over 600 megapixels.

If you are looking for a lens that does portraits well, works relatively good even indoors, is easily hand-holdable and extremely crisp, this is your lens!

Apr 20, 2009

canonfan93OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Dec 24, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 104

Review Date: Jan 12, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $399.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Outstanding resolution and color reproduction from f/2.8 on. Excellent built and handling. I use this lens mainly for outdoor portraits and occasional macro shots with either my 5D or 20D, which suits my need perfectly. This lens' s optical quality appears to be in parallel to my L-series Canon lenses.

Cons:

No HSM, but this does not bother me a bit.

Enough said, as one can also see from others' comments on this lens.

Jan 12, 2009

brucem48OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 16, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 791

Review Date: Jan 2, 2009

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $429.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

unparreled resolution. razor sharp wide open.

Cons:

none

one of the sharpest lenses made today. simple. use for macro and portraits. if you want high IQ this lens will best any lens on the market regardless of manufactuer. future proof resolution for high resolution image sensors.